Saturday, October 29, 2011

Population explosion

What was the world’s population when you were born? The older you are, the more you are likely to be amazed by the figure! It wasn’t until 1804 that the first billion was reached, but 123 years later, it had doubled in size. In the 20th century it increased from less than 2 billion to 6 billion and this week, it will reach 7 billion.
It is now increasing at a slower rate, as governments attempt to make our world more sustainable.

But what about Christ’s church? It is hard to say exactly how many of the 2 billion who call themselves Christians are really following Christ. In Australia, the rate of growth of the church is quite slow, but in many countries, throughout the world, the Christian population is outstripping the general population.

Here are a few examples from Operation World:
Somalia, in the Horn of Africa is growing at 2.3%, but the tiny church is increasing by 8%
Belarus, bordered by Russia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, has a shrinking population, but the percentage of Evangelicals is growing by 3% per year.
Bangladesh is growing by 1.5%, but the number of Evangelicals is increasing by 3.6% each year.
Uruguay is only growing by 0.28% yearly, but the tiny Evangelical Church is increasing by 3% per year.
Jesus said I will build my Church, and He is!

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